Online Linear Drumming Book

Introduction

This online book is about linear drumming. It explains what linear drumming is and describes different ways to get started with it.
Here you will find many patterns, drum fills and exercises (in the form of etudes, 4-measure-exercises and solo's).
Before starting with linear patterns it is assumed you already have an intermediate to advanced drum level.

Table Of Contents: Book Sections And Chapters

Chapters consist of different sections:

Prepartion

Patterns

Fills

The Preparation section contains exercises to prepare you for the whole chapter. These are mainly exercises between snare drum and bass drum.
From there on, you can go to the Patterns section, wich contain patterns between hi-hat, snare drum and bass drum. The Fills section is made of
linear drum fills around the kit.

How To Use This Book

If you are new to the concept of linear drumming, the best way to get the most of this book is to start at the beginning and work your way through the end.
You would ideally begin with the Quarter Notes chapter, starting out with the Preparation section, followed by the Patterns and Fills section.
Then, you would go to the Quarter Notes And Eight Notes chapter and practice the exercises presented in that chapter. And so on ...

More advanced players can start wherever they want, there is enough material to learn from!

What Is Linear Drumming?

A drum pattern is linear when each note in a fill or beat is struck separately. So, in other words, you never play two
notes simultaneously. This goes for both hands and feet, if you strike the bass drum, you don't strike hi-hat nor cymbal
at the same time.
Note: within a groove, you don't always have to strike the drums separately. If now and then you play
two notes simultaneously a beat can be considered as linear.

The basic 4/4 rock beat

Linear patterns based on the 4/4 basic groove, notice the 5th pattern, although not all notes are struck seperately, this pattern is to be considered a linear pattern

The basic 4/4 rock groove in the above example is layered, hi-hat plays straight eighth notes, both snare drum and bass drum play
eighth notes simultaneously with the hi-hat. Linear drum patterns are not layered, each note in the groove is played one after
another. Linear means that you only play one voice of the drum kit at any time.

Why To Learn Linear Drum Patterns

Linear beats are a great way to practice independence, coordination and time.
By learning linear patterns you can spice up your drumming and expand your knowledge on how to create a good
sounding and unique groove. Starting from a basic rock pattern, you can create many drum grooves and apply them to a variety of styles.

Getting Creative

You can use three methods to get creative with linear drumming:

using eighth notes rock beats

starting from building blocks

beginning from a snare drum rhythm

First Method: Eighth Notes Rock Beats

An easy and rapid way to get creative is to create linear patterns from eighth notes rock grooves.
Pick a rock pattern and eliminate any hi-hat note that coincides with a bass drum or snare drum note.
This way you are left with an eighth note linear pattern that is relatively easy to play.

3 Eighth Notes Rock Beats

Linear patterns based on the above eighth notes rock beats

Second Method: Linear Building Blocks

After you have mastered the easier eighth note patterns, try learning a new linear groove by dividing an existing beat into pieces.
For example, if you have a 4/4 pattern you can divide it into two 2/4 or four 1/4 measures.

A Linear Drum Beat

The linear drum beat in the example above is divide into four building blocks

You can use the 1/4 building blocks shown beneath to develop your linear drumming. There are two types of building blocks:
downbeat and backbeat. The downbeat measures are to be used for beats one and three, the backbeat measures
are to be used for beats two and four.
The measures are also divided into rhythmic values: eighth notes and sixteenth notes.
To create your own patterns, you can choose two backbeat and downbeat measures from either section, and mix them together into
a drum beat.

Quarter Note Building Blocks

Downbeat

Backbeat

Eighth Note Building Blocks

Downbeat

Backbeat

Sixteenth Note Building Blocks

Section 1

Downbeat

Backbeat

Section 2

Downbeat

Backbeat

Section 3

Downbeat

No backbeats for section 3

Section 4

Downbeat

This section has no backbeats

Section 5

Downbeat

Section 5 has no backbeats

Section 6

Downbeat

Backbeat

Section 7

Downbeat

Backbeat

Section 8

Downbeat

Backbeat

Section 9

Downbeat

Section 9 has no backbeats

Third Method: Starting From A Snare Drum Rhythm

Another great way to start practicing a pattern is to play all notes on the snare drum.
This way you can get familiar with the overall rhythm of the pattern. Next, play all hi-hat notes on the snare drum and
play the bass drum notes as written. Once
you have memorized the pattern, play the pattern as written, playing the left hand on the hi-hat and
alternating right hand between hi-hat and snare.
Apply different sticking patterns to the groove, choose the one that feels comfortable to you.Steps in learning a new linear groove:

play the groove on the snare drum

play bass drum as written

play the groove as written

experiment with sticking patterns

Linear pattern

Play hi-hat on snare drum first, add bass drum, and use different stickings

Linear Drum Grooves: Practice Material

If you have played all exercises in this book you can test your linear drumming abilities by playing the provided linear drum patterns. These patterns
are divided into four sections:

Each section contains many lessons which have between 8 to 32 patterns.
First, play them as written and repeat each pattern multiple times. If you feel comfortable in playing the
pattern, experiment with dynamics, vary the volume of certain notes; add ghost notes and accents on hi-hat and snare drum.
Try various sticking patterns, use one that feels natural to you.
I strongly advise on using a metronome, this ensures you're playing in time. Start at a slow tempo and gradually bring it up.

The four sections are built around the same snare drum and bass drum pattern.
The only difference between the sections are the hi-hat variations.
In playing these patterns you can experience how important the hi-hat is in a linear groove; change the hi-hat a
little bit and you get a totally different groove.

Regular layered rock beat

Four linear grooves based on the 4/4 rock beat. All grooves sound very different due to the hi-hat.